From the start of my artistic career I sought to redefine the "means and ends" of fine wood art carving. The advice of colleagues, a keen determination, and the use of personally designed custom-built tools have resulted in the pioneering of a unique sculpting process.
Each sculpture or vessel begins as a carefully selected hardwood bole, which I shape into flowing, organic forms with hydraulic chainsaws. Through the arduous use of a variety of customized grinders, the vessel is gradually reduced and thinned to a consistent wall thickness, refined by exhaustive sanding, and hand rubbed to a lustrous, almost translucent finish.
Studies in natural and social sciences have enhanced my understanding of the diversity and grand scale of geological time, as well as the importance balance of form, consistency and—perhaps most importantly—patience.
In carving I strive to embrace each tree's response to its surrounding environment. I think of the evolving form of each vessel as if it were the tree's high lonesome song in 3D, with me harmonizing with Mother Nature. My work is an attempt to show the surviving spirit of one of Earth's greatest living organisms… Life forms flux in the passing of time.
PERMANENT MUSEUM AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
Cincinnati Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH
Living Heritage Museum, Athens, TN
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
Manuel Friedman Collection, Arlington, VA
Winston Lambert Collection, Palo Alto, Ca
Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN
Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
Bob Bohlen Collection, Brighton, MI
Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, Minneapolis, MN
Each sculpture or vessel begins as a carefully selected hardwood bole, which I shape into flowing, organic forms with hydraulic chainsaws. Through the arduous use of a variety of customized grinders, the vessel is gradually reduced and thinned to a consistent wall thickness, refined by exhaustive sanding, and hand rubbed to a lustrous, almost translucent finish.
Studies in natural and social sciences have enhanced my understanding of the diversity and grand scale of geological time, as well as the importance balance of form, consistency and—perhaps most importantly—patience.
In carving I strive to embrace each tree's response to its surrounding environment. I think of the evolving form of each vessel as if it were the tree's high lonesome song in 3D, with me harmonizing with Mother Nature. My work is an attempt to show the surviving spirit of one of Earth's greatest living organisms… Life forms flux in the passing of time.
PERMANENT MUSEUM AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
Cincinnati Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH
Living Heritage Museum, Athens, TN
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
Manuel Friedman Collection, Arlington, VA
Winston Lambert Collection, Palo Alto, Ca
Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN
Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
Bob Bohlen Collection, Brighton, MI
Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, Minneapolis, MN